Occupation War

“What on earth are you saying!”

“Hans! That bastard brought people with him, and it was Guild Master Pernok and Knight Commander Joseph!”

“What?”

Count Bolte couldn’t understand.

When Marquis Falkion was killed, Knight Commander Joseph was also known to have died together.

But Joseph was alive, and not only that, he was together with Pernok who killed his lord?

Count Bolte’s head spun.

“Go right now, gather the soldiers, and don’t let them into the inner castle! Absolutely not!”

“Y-yes!”

When the administrator ran with his soles on fire, Count Bolte hurriedly changed clothes.

Putting on armor and going outside, three knights were already fallen.

And the remaining knight order and soldiers were confronting two men.

One was Joseph, and the other was a man who planted eeriness just by looking.

“What’s this commotion!”

Count Bolte swallowed his tension and forced himself to shout.

The knight order showed courtesy to Count Bolte, but Joseph was indifferent.

“You’re the one—what are you doing without showing courtesy to His Highness the Prince!”

“Joseph! What are you saying!”

“This person is Illumina’s legitimate heir to the throne, Prince Pernok! Hurry and show courtesy!”

When Joseph shouted, soldiers and the knight order murmured.

Count Bolte also knew after hearing rumors.

But how could he believe these preposterous words?

“Not satisfied with pointing swords at me, you’re impersonating royalty!?”

“Marquis Falkion acknowledged it.”

“Now you’re even insulting your lord! How can a knight!”

“Hmph, with eyes blinded by greed, you can’t see the truth.”

“This bastard!”

“Count Bolte, even if your head falls off right now…!”

Pernok extended his hand and blocked Joseph’s words.

“Please calm down. The truth will be revealed by the investigation team coming soon. But before that, I must relieve the territory resident’s grievance.”

When Pernok stepped forward, Count Bolte unknowingly stepped back.

“Don’t be nervous. If you quietly accept my conditions, there won’t be more disturbance than this.”

“Conditions?”

“Our Hans has money he couldn’t settle here.”

“What, you came all the way here for just that?”

“Just?”

When Pernok’s eyes turned cold, everyone in this place felt as if their hearts were freezing.

“How can a lord who should care for territory residents easily turn away from a matter where a family’s lives hang?”

“Stop crying out absurd amounts! 2,000 gold? Ha, does that much money look like a joke in times like now?”

“What are you talking about? 2,000 gold?”

“Are you suddenly trying word games? You clearly said 2,000 gold earlier!”

Pernok tilted his head.

“Other people’s portions are missing.”

“What?”

“It’s not just Hans—the money you’ve eaten from our territory residents all this time is considerable. There are even those who died without getting that money back. After negotiating with the bereaved families, I set compensation. 10,000 gold.”

Count Bolte raised both wicks.

“What kind of thug are you! This place is a count’s territory…”

“I came to collect debt—why does that matter?”

“…Does being an S-rank guild mean nothing’s visible to you! I’m an Illumina noble!”

“You keep taking the difficult path.”

Pernok extended his hand.

“Pay the money and end it cleanly.”

“What worthless behavior!”

“It’s not like I asked for money you don’t have. That’s why, if you’d just given 500 gold and ended it earlier, it would’ve been good for both of us. Why’d you split it nicely with Marquis Falkion and make even me troublesome?”

Count Bolte gritted his teeth.

The order not to get tangled with Falkion until the truth investigation team was dispatched was completely erased from his head.

When he thought a mere mercenary disrespected him, rage surged up.

“Get lost!”

Pernok smirked and withdrew his hand.

“I understand your thinking well. Then I’ll also say one last thing.”

Pernok looked at Count Bolte with a calm gaze.

“Hans’s matter is the same as my matter. You just trampled and disregarded mine and my territory residents’ honor. Never forget this fact.”

Pernok turned around.

When Hans looked with a moved expression, he patted his shoulder and spoke.

“Go back. I’ll help with the blanket shop.”

Pernok and Joseph retraced the path they’d come with Hans.

Only after they disappeared did Count Bolte recall the royal palace’s orders, but it was already irreversible.

His only consolation was sharply raising vigilance to shake off the uneasiness.

But he realized precisely three days later that this complacency had grown into a great fire.

* * *

“Wh-what’s this?”

Named’s flag was fluttering outside the castle gate.

Next to it, the seal symbolizing Falkion’s knight order was also walking together.

“Count Bolte!”

One youth who jumped to the very front.

Meeting Pernok’s face, Count Bolte felt as if his heart would jump out.

“Remember the words I said several days ago!”

It’s been only three days since driving out Pernok.

Even if he reported to Marquis Falkion’s territory and sent people, he couldn’t gather this many troops.

‘He’d prepared from the beginning?’

Count Bolte turned pale at the fact he finally realized.

“This lord, before being royalty, as a monarch caring for territory residents, can never tolerate the current behavior.”

“Wh-what nonsensical unreasonableness! Didn’t you settle accounts not long ago!”

“You sucked the marrow from my territory residents’ backs—are you saying to throw away even honor with a few measly coins?”

“Or are you saying to have a siege right now!”

“There’s no reason to refuse.”

Count Bolte’s heart sank.

“You seem to have finished your resolve, so there’s no need for long words.”

Pernok lifted Named’s flag and threw it at the ramparts.

Thud!

Everyone knew what Named’s flag hanging fluttering alongside Count Bolte’s flag meant.

Territory war.

In Illumina Kingdom, territory war was unfolding again after decades.

“N-no! It’s not like that…!”

Count Bolte broke into cold sweat.

Normally in such cases, he’d press down with the count’s authority.

But the opponent had already come with full preparations, and the momentum pierced the sky—too much to retreat just with a name.

“The First Prince manages this place!”

Though it was words let out like a scream, they rather provoked Pernok.

“Let Count Bolte pay the price for dirtying the territory residents’ and furthermore this lord’s honor!”

It was the first type Count Bolte, who’d committed corruption trusting the First Prince’s halo until now, was facing.

“De-defend! Defeeend!”

The moment Count Bolte let out a roar, Pernok lifted his sword.

At the signal announcing territory war, Count Bolte turned deathly pale and shouted.

“I-I’ll pay! 10,000 gold… gasp!”

Crash!

The explosion bursting on the ramparts swallowed Count Bolte’s voice.

Pernok glanced at Zodiac.

“Were you planning to keep listening to the pig’s squealing?”

Pernok smirked.

“You want to claim a position too?”

“Everyone who joined Named probably thinks the same.”

“Since you want to earn merit, I can’t refuse. How many do you need to break through?”

“Give me two guilds and the knight order.”

“Drag the pig before me.”

As soon as Zodiac placed his hand on the ground, the earth around the ramparts began collapsing.

“B-block it!”

Count Bolte urgently shouted while moving the knight order and troops.

A territory war that started unexpectedly.

What’s important is that he accepted this confrontation.

Jad felt the situation that unfolded in an instant was both familiar and fascinating.

‘It’s just like the method when Prince Isolun struck other princes.’

Justification is created even with trivial reasons.

It’s also common to come claiming that debts owed by ancestors weren’t repaid after a long time and duel staking each other’s honor.

Pernok’s method was radical, but he’d drawn in the opponent.

The moment the stage was set, Named’s stage was completed.

“Jad, the other guild masters?”

“They’re catching the nobles in the ledger and coming here.”

“Prepare to move to the next castle right away.”

“Already?”

“We’re not returning to the castle. Lead the people who join as is and tour the remaining castles.”

Come to think of it, Sallio and Enri had each gone to create justification at two different castles.

The public sentiment there also looked turbulent and good to target.

Moreover, they were the First Prince’s faction.

“Bolte, Falkion, and the remaining two places. If we sweep away the First Prince’s connections tied together, a very good picture will be completed.”

“Then will you entrust the other place to me?”

“You know the rules of territory war?”

“Until the royal palace dispatches an investigation team to weigh the severity of crimes, the victor reserves the loser’s life. Can’t kill the lord!”

Pernok nodded.

“Handle everything except the lord as you see fit. However, you must secure the people first.”

“I’ll do well so nobody gets swept up!”

While Jad was laughing, one corner of the ramparts crumbled down.

When Zodiac finally tore down the ramparts, Pernok also slowly moved.

When blind arrows flew, he lightly swung his sword to strike them down and entered inside the collapsed ramparts.

Rumble!

“Capture the count!”

“Absolutely don’t touch the territory residents!”

They’re faithfully carrying out missions as taught.

‘This place has few soldiers too—if we cause great sacrifice here, bad rumors will flow when persuading territory residents.’

Soldiers are also the territory residents’ family.

There’s no need to purposely cause bloodshed.

Pernok, who smiled coolly, swung his sword toward the ramparts.

Crash!

Over Impact swept the ramparts while bursting everything in its path.

When soldiers couldn’t maintain balance and sank down, Pernok sent guild members up.

When magic was aimed, soldiers lost the will to resist.

“Count Bolte used you with wicked emotions to fatten his own belly! How can you raise swords for such a person!”

Pernok shouted to the battlefield.

“Lower your weapons and return to your families’ embrace! If you do so, I won’t behead you!”

“That guy’s words…!”

He beheaded the knight making noise in one stroke.

“There’s no one here to block you!”

The mages’ pressure. And the castle perfectly seized.

The soldiers all lowered their weapons and quietly surrendered to Pernok.

* * *

With suddenly arriving Pernok and the territory war fought without agreement, Count Bolte couldn’t gather his senses.

Everything was one-sided.

By the time Count Bolte went to the gaping ramparts, Pernok’s mages were pouring in like a tide.

“Count! Please evacuate quickly!”

The knight commander came down bringing troops, but he couldn’t reverse the battle situation.

Pernok simultaneously brought the guild and the marquisate’s knight order.

Count Bolte’s knight order couldn’t handle the forces that were mostly mages.

As if hammering a wedge in the difficult situation, Zodiac opened the path.

“It’s prepared.”

“Not bad. I’ll leave even the finish to you.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

When Zodiac grinned and withdrew, only Pernok and Count Bolte remained in the closed-room-like space.

“What law in the world has this kind of territory war!”

“What kind is this?”

“This is violence! Pushing in recklessly! It’s arbitrary action with law and procedure omitted!”

“Hahahaha!”

“Wh-what’s funny!”

Pernok burst into wild laughter and shook his head.

“If all nobles of Illumina Kingdom were like you, it’d be really convenient.”

“Wh-what…”

“You’re a bastard too pitiful to stain my sword with blood. Well, the First Prince will dispose of bastards who’ve exhausted their usefulness himself.”

Illumina’s territory war can’t kill the occupied territory’s lord until the investigation team grasps the situation.

It’s a similar reason why even as Rezhen’s princes fought each other, only troop losses occurred and they all preserved their lives.

“What’s different between nobles’ lives and the people’s lives? In the end, if you die, you’re all just the same deceased.”

“W-wait…!”

Pernok kicked Count Bolte’s body.

Count Bolte who struck the wall fainted while bleeding from nose and mouth.

Coming outside the closed room, the castle’s remaining workers and the administrator were visible.

“There’s money the count stashed away, right?”

The administrator rolled his eyes and answered.

“Yes!”

“Where is it?”

“There’s a safe in the bedroom…”

Pernok cut the administrator’s neck as is.

When workers screamed, he commanded through Zodiac.

“Search every corner of the castle’s storehouse including the safe to grasp the wealth, and send these guys home.”

“Yes. Shall I open the storehouse?”

“You remain here in charge, and when the confusion is settled, straighten the public sentiment.”

“Understood.”

And not long after, the guild masters Pernok had made compete appeared one after another.

They all brought justification to strike nobles written in the ledger and the remaining castles.

“Since the territories in this vicinity are the First Prince’s faction, they seem to circulate eating among each other a lot.”

“Thanks to that, we easily made openings to dig in.”

“We strike the remaining castles before word of this place spreads. And these vermin bastards.”

Pernok called one guild master anxious to earn merit.

“You’re in charge of shaking everything down. What they’ve hidden. What corruption connects to whom.”

“What if it connects even to royals?”

“Keep that guy alive. He’ll be useful when striking other places.”

“Please trust and entrust it to me!”

And Pernok shouted to the remaining guild masters and elite guild members.

“We conquer all remaining castles and make them territories! We finish everything before the investigation team comes!”

“Yes!”

Hundreds of horses raised dust and galloped toward the First Prince faction’s two strongholds.